Nine Nine

Neighbor Wang Daniu was a warm-hearted woman. When she learned that the two children were fatherless and motherless, and also targeted by their uncle’s family, she felt both pity and concern for them. Not only did she lend them brooms and wooden buckets, but she also gathered her husband and their two children, who were resting at home, to come and help.

The six of them swept dust, pulled weeds, and cleared cobwebs inside and outside the courtyard, as if preparing for the New Year’s thorough cleaning. In just one day, every corner was spotless.

That evening, Yue Zhi wanted to cook a good meal to thank Wang Daniu’s family for their help. However, the only large pot in her own kitchen was rusted and leaking. So, amidst Wang Daniu’s hearty laughter, she went to borrow the kitchen at their house, using her own rice, cured meat, and preserved fish to cook a pot of glossy, fragrant cured-flavored rice.

In the northern lands, people mostly ate corn, beans, and wheat; white rice was a rare delicacy, and cured meat and sausages were luxuries only families with surplus could afford.

When Yue Zhi carried the pot of rice into the room, Wang Miaomiao’s mouth watered at the delicious aroma. Only restrained by her mother’s watchful eyes did she refrain from rudely grabbing the food.

The family sat properly, with Wang Daye at the head of the table, Yue Zhi and Wang Daniu on one side, Wang Miaomiao and her brother Wang Qiushi on the other, and the youngest, Pei Heng, at the end.

“This is so delicious, Sister Yue Zhi, are you really not a chef from a restaurant?” Wang Miaomiao stuffed rice into her mouth nonstop, her love for the cured-flavored rice evident in every bite.

Wang Qiushi cleared his throat twice, signaling his sister to control her eating, but no matter how much she tried to restrain herself, next to the graceful and gentle Yue Zhi, she still looked like a wild monkey.

Throughout the meal, Wang Qiushi’s eyes rarely glanced at the food; instead, they kept darting toward Yue Zhi’s face.

She was truly beautiful.

Unaware of the glances directed at her, Yue Zhi did not realize that the young man across the table, close to her age, had already praised her in his heart as a fairy descended from the heavens.

Pei Heng noticed Wang Qiushi’s strange gaze toward Yue Zhi, but after the day’s hard work—which he was not used to—his young body could hardly bear it. Eager only to eat well and sleep, he did not probe further.

The Wang family was open and straightforward. After a day’s companionship and a meal, Wang Daniu was already happily holding Yue Zhi’s hand, telling her to come by anytime if she needed anything.

Wang Miaomiao even hugged Yue Zhi tightly, unwilling to let her go home, insisting she stay the night to play stone chess together.

Wang Daniu also advised the two: “Your window leaks cold air, and the kang stove can’t get warm. Why not sleep at my place for a couple of nights? Once your house is repaired, you can return.”

At this moment, Pei Heng, already drowsy, closed his eyes and leaned against Yue Zhi. Wang Miaomiao, a year older than him, poked his nose playfully through Yue Zhi.

Pei Heng scrunched his nose and mumbled, “How rude.”

Everyone around froze for a moment. Yue Zhi thought, “Oh no,” and was about to explain when the Wang family burst into laughter.

“This kid is really something. His sleep-talking sounds like a high official. No wonder he can read and write. He’s bound to become a great official someday.”

“Mom, little Pei Heng is just as fair and pretty as Sister Yue Zhi, but they don’t look alike at all.”

“Do siblings from other families look alike like you and your brother? You both take after your father—dark and sturdy, like cast from the same mold. Oh well, not a bit of my good looks there.”

Wang Miaomiao was defiant, clutching Yue Zhi and refusing to let go. “I don’t care. If I sleep next to Sister Yue Zhi, maybe I’ll become pretty too.”

After a while of coaxing from mother and daughter, and with the room warmed by coal fire, Yue Zhi felt drowsy.

Seeing Pei Heng about to fall asleep, she nodded in agreement.

The Wang family’s kang was large. When Wang Daye’s parents were alive, six people comfortably slept on it in winter. Now with Yue Zhi and Pei Heng added, there was still plenty of space.

Wang Miaomiao insisted on sleeping close to Yue Zhi. In a moment of inattention, Pei Heng was carried over to Wang Qiushi’s side.

This was the Wang family’s sleeping custom: boys with boys, girls with girls.

Yue Zhi initially felt nothing amiss, but fearing that Pei Heng might mumble odd “dream words” in his half-asleep state and be overheard, she hurriedly took him back from Wang Qiushi.

Explaining, “If he wakes up at night and doesn’t see me, he’ll cry.”

Wang Qiushi did not question further, merely nodding. After turning his face away, his sun-kissed cheeks flushed deeply.

The candle flickered inside the room as the family climbed into bed.

The heated kang was warm and cozy, while the cold wind howled outside the windows, unable to touch any face. The room was quiet and comfortable.

Yue Zhi’s left hand was cushioned by Pei Heng’s head, her right arm embraced by Wang Miaomiao. The day’s fatigue weighed heavily on her, and she soon slipped into dreams.

*

There were repairs to be made to the house, furniture to be added, pots, bowls, pans, food supplies, firewood, candles, and so on.

When Yue Zhi awoke, only she and the two children remained on the kang.

She dressed and tidied her hair, planning to find a cart to go into town to purchase necessities, when the early-rising Wang Daniu returned from a round of errands.

“Yue Zhi, I asked around for you. Old Liu from the village can gather people to do the repairs. If he calls six or seven men, it won’t take more than three days to fix your house solidly.”

“Really?” Yue Zhi sighed with relief; this was a huge help.

“It’s bitterly cold this winter; no one can work the fields or enter the mountains, so everyone’s idle at home. When there’s work, they all rush to take it.”

Wang Daniu handed her a warm towel with a smile and continued.

“In our village, the usual rate is ten wen per person per day, meals included. Bricks and materials are extra. But since I know your kitchen is poor, I negotiated fourteen wen a day. Does that price suit you?”

Yue Zhi was unfamiliar with such matters, but she trusted Wang Daniu’s sincerity and judgment, feeling grateful for such a helpful neighbor.

“That’s fine. You know better than I do, and you’re willing to help me. Having neighbors like you is my blessing.”

Wang Daniu beamed at the praise. “It’s nothing. We’re just idle anyway. Seeing you and your brother all alone, helping you is also a good deed for my children.”

“With a kind mother like you, Miaomiao and Wang Ge won’t do badly either. Their futures look bright.”

After spending over five years in the palace, beyond embroidery and money, Yue Zhi’s greatest skill had become her sweet tongue.

Wang Daniu, approaching forty, had barely spent any time with her, yet her smile had already blossomed into that of a young girl.

“I’ve heated some cornbread; eat a few while they’re warm. Once Qiushi finishes chopping firewood, he’ll drive the ox cart to take you into Yanjing city to buy what you need. The sooner your home is ready, the sooner you can live in peace.”

“Mm!” Yue Zhi quickly tidied herself, finished breakfast, and helped comb Wang Miaomiao’s and Pei Heng’s hair, who had just gotten up.

Seeing Pei Heng sluggish from the cold morning, she did not take him along, leaving the two children at the Wang household while she and Wang Qiushi set off for the city by ox cart.

*

Four days later, Yue Zhi returned with Pei Heng from Wang’s home to their newly repaired house.

Opening the brand-new gate, the collapsed eastern wing had been rebuilt. The kitchen was stocked with utensils, bowls, and chopsticks; jars were filled with rice and flour; cured meats hung on the walls; the bathing room had a basin and wooden bucket; the main room now had tables, chairs, and stools; and the inner chamber contained a cabinet for clothes and bedding.

All the windows were reinforced, covered with a fresh layer of window paper, and an additional thick oiled paper layer outside to block the wind.

Though the cold wind howled outside, standing inside the house, not a breath disturbed the room.

Looking at the new home, Yue Zhi’s heart swelled with joy.

Wang Qiushi was diligent; she had only asked him to help move furniture, but he had even prepared the kang stove with a layer of leather underneath, two layers of quilts, a sheet, and two thick, soft comforters on top.

Running her hand over the gray-green quilt cover, the fabric was somewhat coarse, nothing like the colorful bedding in the palace, but this was hers—something she could keep and use as long as she wished, without fear of confiscation or loss.

Her drifting, lonely heart had finally found a resting place.

She looked at Pei Heng excitedly: “Now, we really have a home.”

A clean, comfortable, warm, and safe home.

Seeing her happiness, Pei Heng thought this courtyard was thousands of times better than the palaces he had lived in before. Though small, it was enough to hold him and Yue Zhi; though sparse, it was sufficient.

The distant imperial city and the suffocating memories vanished into the past.

From this day on, in his heart, there was only Yue Zhi, himself, and their home.

That night, he took the initiative to light the fire and warm the kang.

After staying a few days at the Wang household, the once useless Crown Prince, unfamiliar with grains and unable to contribute, had learned from Wang Miaomiao and Wang Qiushi how to fetch water, chop wood, build fires, and air quilts.

Quick to grasp, adept in reading and archery after a single lesson, he found these physical tasks even easier and picked them up immediately.

By the stove fire, Yue Zhi steamed a pot of buns and stewed a young rooster with wild mushrooms, producing two large bowls of chicken and mushroom stew. She also used the stew broth to cook a large block of tofu, dividing it into two bowls.

While settling into the new home, the Wang family helped them considerably. The two carried the stewed tofu, chicken and mushrooms, and eight large buns to Wang’s house, arriving before mealtime.

As soon as Wang Miaomiao opened the door, the rich smell of chicken wafted out. Like a little dog, she invited them in, running and shouting into the room.

“Mom! Sister Yue Zhi and Pei Heng brought us a big bowl of meat!”

Wang Daniu peeked out: “What’s all that shouting? Afraid no one knows your sister gave you the good stuff?”

Wang Miaomiao quickly covered her mouth, muttering softly, “There’s also tofu and white flour buns. The last time we had white buns was before the New Year.”

The Wang family raised two children and was saving to marry off their son, so life was naturally tight.

Wang Daniu smiled shyly at Yue Zhi, set down her things, and rose to take the dishes and buns.

“You’re too kind.”

“We wouldn’t have moved into the new home so quickly without your help. Yue Zhi cooks especially well. Please don’t be polite; try everything.”

Pei Heng, like a little gentleman, sincerely thanked Wang Daniu. Already resembling a youthful deity, his composed demeanor now radiated a noble air that delighted all who saw him.

“All right, all right, we’ll definitely taste Yue Zhi’s cooking.”

Wang Daniu wanted them to stay and eat, but they politely declined, saying their own pot still had warm food.

Back home, the two quickly finished their meal.

Yue Zhi carried hot water from the large pot to the bathing room’s big bucket to wash Pei Heng.

He readily agreed to bathe but, when Yue Zhi started removing his cotton jacket—which still covered two layers inside—he felt empty and shy, stopping her from taking off more.

He squatted down. “I don’t want you to wash me.”

Puzzled, Yue Zhi said, “There are no eunuchs here. If I don’t wash you, who will?”

He stiffened his resolve. “I’ll wash myself!”